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Police say New Richmond school bus driver drove intoxicated
Police in New Richmond, Wis., say a bus driver was intoxicated while she was carrying 43 children to school Thursday morning. Just before 7:30 a.m., police say the bus hit a parked car near Hillside Elementary School. When officers responded, they smelled something on the driver's breath. "There was an odor of alcohol that was present," police chief Mark Samelstad said. The New Richmond School District said the 35-year-old driver notified the bus garage immediately, and the bus service sent a second bus to take the children to school. Nobody was hurt. "All the kids are safe,' said Morrie Veilleux, the New Richmond School District Administrator. "There is absolutely no nicks, bruises, hysteria, anything like that." The district said the driver, who was given a traffic ticket for operating a commercial vehicle with a blood-alcohol level above .04 - the legal limit for commercial drivers in Wisconsin - has been suspended. New Richmond Bus Service told KARE 11 it had no comment when a crew visited its headquarters Thursday afternoon. The company is in its third year of a five year contract with the school district, and Veilleux said the district has been pleased with the service so far. "Very good to work with, very safety conscious," he said. The driver, who has not been formally charged with a criminal offense, was released from the St. Croix County jail Thursday afternoon. "In my career, it's probably the first time I've come across a situation involving a school bus driver and a bus full of kids," Samelstad said. Police gave her a blood test instead of a breath test, and because blood-test results take longer to process, they were not able to say just how intoxicated she might have been.
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